Republicans Meet

A sparse but stalwart group of Republicans met Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at Harrison Hall in Ellijay for their monthly meeting. Upon dispensing with the customary items of general business, Party Chairman, George McClellan turned the floor over to Danny Dukes who represents John Oxendine in his campaign for governor in the 2010 election.

Mr. Dukes explained that while the Republicans have had control of the state government for the past eight years that Governor Purdue was actually a Democrat before he was a Republican and in his words a “RINO” (Republican in Name Only). Dukes said “we (Republicans) got our foot in the door, now we need to kick it down and put a true conservative in the governor’s office”. Mr. Dukes handed out a card entitled “John Oxendine’s Contract with Georgia”, subtitled “John Oxendine offers positive, issues-oriented solutions for Georgia families”. The card highlighted candidate Oxendine’s twelve point platform. Mr. Dukes went on to explain several of the points in the platform. Among those discussed were:

· Candidate Oxendine’s support of the Fair Tax program

· His desire to implement a comprehensive, statewide transportation system that would include, according to Mr. Dukes, a East-West connector route from I-75 to I-85 North of Atlanta that utilizes existing infrastructure.

· Implement a Fair Tax program in the State of Georgia.

· Start the process of building new water reservoirs to ensure an adequate water supply for our future.

· Implement a voucher program for education in the State of Georgia.

These were just a few of the points in Mr. Oxendine’s platform. The remainder can be accessed at his website: www.johnoxendine.com.

Following Mr. Dukes presentation Senator Chip Pearson made a presentation to the group. He discussed the last legislative session in Georgia and term it “a very successful” session. He discussed several bills that were passed where he was either sponsor or co-sponsor. Included in these was:

· SB-20, a bill that prohibits sanctuary cities being declared in State either by action of the city governments or de-facto (not enforcing existing laws or cooperating with federal or state law enforcement).

· SB-55, a bill that requires county Tax Assessors to use foreclosure sales (when they exist) as comparables for establishing market value for property tax assessments.

· A bill that gives an $1,800.00 tax credit for home purchases in the year 2009.

Senator Pearson went on to discuss the state of our political climate nationally and how, in his opinion, the policies of the Obama Administration are serving to hurt the economy (instead of fix it) and provide disincentives to entrepreneurs that would create wealth in the United States. He talked about five things that need to happen to get the country back on track. These five points are:

1. Fix the housing market.

2. Fix the banking industry.

3. Get the private sector back investing in the economy by cutting capital gains tax.

4. Reduce the corporate tax structure in America to allow companies to invest in new products and services thereby creating jobs.

5. Engage small business through low interest loan that are tied to creating jobs.

Senator Pearson reminded the group that 95% of all jobs that are created in Georgia are done so by small business.

Chairman McClellan reminded the group that the local group promoting the Fair Tax Program was planning to join the national rally in Washington, D.C. on September 11^th. A bus for 50 people has been arranged and the group will leave on September 10^th and return on September 12^th. Cost, per person, for the bus ride is $150 and motel rooms have been secured at a rate of $110 per night. If you are interested in making the trip contact Jack Smith via e-mail at jsmith1151@ellijay.com for additional details.